Thursday, May 24, 2012

In the spring of 1862, many Americans still believed that the Civil War, "would be over by Christmas." The Battle of Shiloh would singlehandedly change the psyche of the military, politicians, and American people--North and South--about what they had unleashed by creating a Civil War. In this gripping telling of the first "great and terrible" battle of the Civil War, Groom describes the dramatic events of April 6 and 7, 1862, when a bold surprise attack on Ulysses S. Grant's encamped troops and the bloody battle that ensued would alter the timbre of the war.

Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront by Harry L. Katz; Vincent Virga; Alan Brinkley
Illustrators such as Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast created for the American public some of the most important and lasting images of the Civil War. The 250 illustrations collected here span different battlefields and represent priceless artifacts from our nation's greatest conflict.

This volume that traces events from January 1862 to January 1863, an unforgettable portrait of the crucial year that turned a secessionist rebellion into a war of emancipation. Including eleven never-before- published pieces by more than eighty participants and observers.

Due to the public's anger over the disastrous course of the Civil War, even Lincoln himself believed he would lose the election for his second term in office. His opposing candidate, George B. McClellan, planned to end the war by allowing the South to split off from the Union. This detailed narrative account for history buffs and general readers investigates the critical factors that influenced the election's outcome.

Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction by Allen C. Guelzo
Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. And unlike other surveys of the Civil War era, it extends the reader's vista to include the postwar Reconstruction period and discusses the modern-day legacy of the Civil War in American literature and popular culture. Guelzo also puts the conflict in a global perspective, underscoring Americans' acute sense of the vulnerability of their republic in a world of monarchies.